243 posts in this topic

I had listed my Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition Party Pack on eBay and after a day or so, I got the e-mail telling me that my auction had been removed at the request of Microsoft:

[quote name='eBay e-mail']You recently listed the following listing:

160368269963 - Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition Party Pack

The listing was removed because it violated eBay policy.

The rights owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner, Microsoft Corporation, notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law.

The rights owner reported the following information:

Dear eBay Seller,

If you are selling Microsoft product on eBay, it is your responsibility to ensure that your sales practices do not violate eBay&acirc;

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[quote name='littleneutrino' post='591709466' date='Oct 15 2009, 17:39']wow. A way to go B i dont see how that is legal lol.[/quote]

It's legal, because according to the court case that I quoted in the e-mail, companies cannot restrict people from reselling products that they legally obtained. Just because a company marks a product as "not for resale" or something similar, those markings have no legal bearing.

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[quote name='roadwarrior' post='591709448' date='Oct 15 2009, 18:34']I had listed my Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition Party Pack on eBay and after a day or so, I got the e-mail telling me that my auction had been removed at the request of Microsoft:

I e-mailed eBay and Microsoft's Net Safe team with my feelings that my auction did not violate any copyright laws. I got the following e-mail back from Microsoft:

In response, I e-mailed them the following, referring them to some relevant court cases:

Just a few minutes ago, I got the following e-mail from Microsoft:

Yippee! Perhaps this will serve others who have similar problems selling software on eBay.[/quote]

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But I hope in the future, you aren't offered more product opportunities like this one, even if the law says you can resale property that is clearly marked "not for resale".
I disagree with that case ruling, and really hope you don't make profit from selling something that was given to you for free.

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[quote name='NfoTech' post='591709542' date='Oct 15 2009, 22:57']Way to go and potentially ruin any more offering like this one.[/quote]

I agree with the OP. How would this ruin any future offerings. If said software was legally obtained by the seller (whether as a gift, promo, or educational discount), according to the court cases specified, it is protected under the First Sale Doctrine.

I am glad he had the gumption to point this out to them and they cannot just bully people.

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[quote name='nytiger73' post='591709578' date='Oct 15 2009, 18:09']I agree with the OP. How would this ruin any future offerings. If said software was legally obtained by the seller (whether as a gift, promo, or educational discount), according to the court cases specified, it is protected under the First Sale Doctrine.

I am glad he had the gumption to point this out to them and they cannot just bully people.[/quote]

Thanks for the support. LOL, I didn't know people even used the word "gumption" anymore!

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[quote name='nytiger73' post='591709578' date='Oct 15 2009, 19:09']I agree with the OP. How would this ruin any future offerings. If said software was legally obtained by the seller (whether as a gift, promo, or educational discount), according to the court cases specified, it is protected under the First Sale Doctrine.

I am glad he had the gumption to point this out to them and they cannot just bully people.[/quote]

Well... when they know people are putting up stuff like this for sale on sites such as eBay and can get away with it, Microsoft might just say the hell with it and not give out promotional material such as this again. Which in turn ruins it for the rest of us.

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Yeah its kind of lame that you are trying to make money off something that was essentially given to you as a gift, and quite an expensive gift at that. People climb over each other to get hold of rare stuff like this, and this kind of stuff makes the manufacturer less likely to do it in the future.

Congrats though

@NYTiger73: It doesn't stop anything legally, but why should MS make the effort to give this sort of stuff away when its just going to go on eBay anyway?

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[quote name='NfoTech' post='591709600' date='Oct 15 2009, 18:17']Well... when they know people are putting up stuff like this for sale on sites such as eBay and can get away with it, Microsoft might just say the hell with it and not give out promotional material such as this again. Which in turn ruins it for the rest of us.[/quote]

The same thing could be said for other types of promotions though. People sell things that they win in giveaways and promotions all the time, and that hasn't stopped companies from doing promotions.

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[quote name='Andrew Lyle' post='591709566' date='Oct 15 2009, 19:06']But I hope in the future, you aren't offered more product opportunities like this one, even if the law says you can resale property that is clearly marked "not for resale".
I disagree with that case ruling, and really hope you don't make profit from selling something that was given to you for free.[/quote]
Sole motivation was greed.

[quote name='roadwarrior' post='591709586' date='Oct 15 2009, 19:12']Thanks for the support. LOL, I didn't know people even used the word "gumption" anymore![/quote]
I, for one, don't support you. If I could say what I'd like to say on the matter, I'd get banned for it. I'm not in that mood just yet.

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I cannot believe that you are that greedy to profit from a freebie and giveaway to go to such lengths to be able to sell this freebie. While I admire your courage and legal abilities to fight large corporations, in this instance while legal (considering you won) it is still completely unethical and could possibly ruin any future chance of corporations such as Microsoft to create and fund such events.

I wouldnt be surprised if for Windows 8 they say "**** it, the contestants won't honour the arrangements, so lets not even bother having giveaways."

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You agree'd to host a windows 7 party, so they sent you a free copy of windows 7 along with supplies to use at the party.
Its not bad enough that you received a free copy of windows 7 for hosting the party then not following though, but now your trying to profit off of it...

You agree'd to host a windows 7 party, so they sent you a free copy of windows 7 along with supplies to use at the party.
Its not bad enough that you received a free copy of windows 7 for hosting the party then not following though, but now your trying to profit off of it...[/quote]

At no point have I ever said that I was not hosting the party, just that I wouldn't need the copy of Windows 7 that they provided (I already have it through work), and I don't plan on using the party supplies that they sent (they were hideous and tacky). No where in the agreement for House Party did it state that you had to use either at your party.

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[quote name='roadwarrior' post='591709928' date='Oct 15 2009, 18:48']At no point have I ever said that I was not hosting the party, just that I wouldn't need the copy of Windows 7 that they provided (I already have it through work), and I don't plan on using the party supplies that they sent (they were hideous and tacky). No where in the agreement for House Party did it state that you had to use either at your party.[/quote]
so whats the ebay link?...maybe we can bid on some other stuff you swindled for free....LOL